The Secrets We Keep
by whumpqueen
Summary: It's been a few years since Ryan's encounter with the Russian mob, after all that time, could the truth of what really happened on that case come to light. How will everyone react when they discover what their friend went through. Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami, or the lovely Ryan Wolfe. Warning: contains spoilers for WISC


"It's not funny Walter." Ryan complained as he walked into the locker room. "Yeah it is. She dumped the whole glass on you." Walter laughed at his thoroughly soaked friend. "I don't even know her." Ryan mumbled.

Eric looked on the scene and let out a chuckle, "What happened to Wolfe?" before Ryan could say anything Walter jumped in, "Some random chick started yelling at him when we finished interviewing the witness. Thought our boy here was her ex, she threw a whole thing of beer on him. It was the most hilarious thing I have seen in my life. His face was priceless."

Eric joined in Walter's laughter but stopped short when he glanced over to Ryan. The younger man had just taken his beer-soaked shirt to reveal a heavily scarred torso. Walter followed his gaze and blanched at what he saw, "Damn Wolfe, what the hell happened to you."

Ryan was confused for a second then seemed to realize what they were looking at. Ryan quickly pulled a new shirt on and attempted to bolt out of the room. His retreat was blocked when Calliegh and Natalie walked in.

In the few seconds Ryan paused to try and get around the two women Eric had reached him and had a firm grip on his shoulder. After an unsuccessful attempt to get away, Ryan gave up and sat down on the closest bench and let his head fall back and bang into the lockers.

Calliegh and Natalia exchanged confused glances and turned back to the three men.

After a few moments Ryan leaned forward and ran his hand over his face, "Shit." Ryan's muttered curse seemed to grab everyone's attention, Ryan wasn't one to curse.

Natalia sent a questioning gaze to Walter who explained, "He was changing out of his wet clothes, guess he forgot we were here or something. Next thing I know my best friend is covered in horrific scars, I have no idea why and he tries to run away."

Ryan looks up and shoots Walter an apologetic glance, "You don't want to know what happened, trust me."

Eric thought for a moment before asking, "When did it happen? Will you at least tell us that?" Ryan whispered something before he ran from the locker room but Natalia was the only one closest to hear.

When she heard what Ryan said, her face turned white. She had thought that maybe it happened a long time ago, maybe he was in a car accident as a kid; she didn't want to believe what she had heard him say. If she did, it meant that they were terrible friends for not knowing what happened, or even when.

"What did he say?" Eric's words brought her out of her thoughts and Natalia replied, "He said it happened a few years ago."

Eric and Calliegh looked between each other, desperately trying to think back and remember if anything happened. Walter looked confused, "What happened a few years ago?" Walter had only been on day shift for a year and a half and he didn't know much about what happened before he changed shifts.

"That's the problem," Eric's voice broke the silence, "Nothing happened that I know of that could have caused that."

Walter felt anger rush through him, "You mean to tell me that," Walter pointed in the direction Ryan had fled, "That happened when all of you knew him and not only did you do nothing about it but you didn't even know it happened?"

The three CSI's looked away guiltily, Walter was right; they should at least know that something had happened. Walter made a disgusted sound and went off to find his best friend, if he knew Ryan as well as he thought he did, he knew exactly where the man would go.

Alexx opened the door and was surprised to see an upset Ryan Wolfe on the other side. "What's wrong baby boy?" Alexx cooed as she drew the young man into a hug.

"Eric and Walter saw them." Alexx's eyes flashed with momentary anger, she didn't need for him to elaborate to know what he was talking about, she had been with him the month he had spent healing in the hospital, and she had been the one to bring him into the ER. "I didn't… I couldn't… I just left. They were all standing there and I just couldn't think of anything to tell them." Ryan let loose a small sob into her shoulder.

"Shhhh, its ok baby boy. I know, I know." Alexx ran her fingers through his short hair in a soothing gesture, stopping only to shoo away her curious husband.

When Ryan finally had ahold of himself he softly pulled away from the motherly woman and gave an embarrassed smile, "Sorry Alexx, I got a little worked up."

Alexx crossed her arms, "You have every right to, after what happened to you, I wish you would have let me tear into them back then. I would have set them straight." Alexx gently grabbed hold of Ryan's chin and brought his eyes up to hers. "But you can't hide forever baby boy. They are going to want to know and we both know you can't hide it from them for long."

Alexx looked past Ryan and saw Ryan's friend, Walter, climbing out of his car and heading over to them. "Honey, I think someone wants to talk to you."

Ryan turned to see Walter standing there and let a small smile form on his face, he should have known Walter would know where he would be.

Alexx watched with a smile as Ryan walked up to his best friend, who immediately engulfed the smaller man in a crushing hug. She turned and went inside her house, allowing the two men a little privacy.

Ryan smiled as Walter let go of him "Sorry about running out on you like that man."

Walter shrugged as if saying 'no big deal' but after a moment he couldn't stand the silence. "Natalia heard what you said, about it happening fairly recently. I got pretty pissed when no one knew what or that anything had happened."

Ryan smirked, "I kept it pretty well hidden from them, and I don't blame them for not noticing."

Walter scowled, "You may not, but you worked with all three of them at the time. As CSI's they should know that something had happened. What did happen Ry." Ryan smiled at the nickname; it was usually something Walter teased him with. "I promise I'll tell you big guy, but this isn't a story I feel like telling four separate times."

Walter nodded in understanding, "I'll call them and have them meet us back at your place. I understand it might be hard, but I want the whole story." Ryan nodded and followed Walter as he pulled out his phone.

Eric pulled up to the unfamiliar house, realizing that in all the years he had known Ryan, he had never been to the man's house. As he walked to the door with Calliegh and Natalia in tow he realized there was probably a lot he didn't know about Ryan Wolfe.

Calliegh rang the doorbell and a short while later Walter opened the door to let them in. The three CSI's walked in and were awed at how clean everything was, how organized it all looked. They sometimes forgot Ryan was OCD; he handled it well at work.

When they reached the living room they all stood awkwardly until Ryan gave a small smile and left the room to get everyone drinks, although Walter was comfortably sprawled on a recliner.

Natalia took the moment to look around and happened upon the bookshelf. She was surprised that the books weren't organized alphabetically. She looked them over, trying to figure out Ryan's system of organization. Her eyes widened when she suddenly realized they were organized numerically according to the Dewey decimal system, Ryan's OCD must have really been acting up when he organized these.

While Natalia was making her little discovery, Walter watched in amusement as Calliegh and Eric looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to do. ""You can sit you know." Walter's voice broke the silence, "Ry won't kill you for messing up his couch or anything."

Calliegh blushed in embarrassment but Eric looked confused, "You call him Ry?" Walter snorted, "Yeah Ry, short for Ryan. That is his name you know. I seriously don't get why H calls him Mr. Wolfe all the time. He has a first name for a reason." Eric shrugged wondering why he had never noticed that as he joined Calliegh on the couch.

Ryan returned and handed out beers and put a few extras on the coffee table. He took a long drink from his bottle before he started. "Do you remember that case a few years ago when I messed with the evidence?"

Walter leaned forward, shocked, "You messed up evidence? You, Mr. OCD himself and self-proclaimed bringer of justice?"

Ryan chuckled at Walter's words but when he looked up, his eyes spoke of pain and despair. "You have to understand, I had to."

Eric was somewhat shocked, he had no idea where this conversation was going to go but he hadn't expected this. "What do you mean?"

Ryan turned his gaze to the three people occupying his couch, "They had Billy. Billy Gantry. They said they would kill him if I didn't fix the case for them."

Calliegh spoke softly, dreading the answer to her question, "Who had Billy?"

Ryan paused to take a deep breath, "The Russians."

The color seemed to drain out of Calliegh, Eric and Natalia's faces, they remembered the Russians.

Walter was confused though, "What does this have to do with your scars Ry? Don't get me wrong, it was terrible they had this Billy kid but I don't see the relevance."

Ryan's eyes darted over everyone's faces; he saw the same question in the eyes of the others, though they now had their suspicions. "Before they grabbed Billy they tried a different tactic to convince me. I was supposed to go talk to this photographer, for a case. On the way there I got a flat, I got out to look at it and next thing I know I'm tied to a chair and blindfolded."

Walter's face grew angry, "You got kidnapped during a case?" Walter turned to take in the guilty expressions on his colleague's faces. "You, didn't know did you? He got kidnapped and no one noticed? How long did they have you?"

Ryan looked down, "I'm not sure exactly but it was at least 12 hours, maybe more. It was the next day when I finally got home."

Walter was shocked, "!2 hours, God Ry, what did they do to you for 12 hours?" Walter was practically whispering.

"You saw most of it. I managed to get some trace on my clothes during part of it and ran it when I got back to the lab. When I found out where they had me, H offered to go and find Billy while I stalled for time."

Eric's head shot up, "H knew?" Ryan nodded and let Eric continue, "Who else knew?"

Ryan nervously adjusted his collar, "Alexx, she took me to the hospital when I collapsed at her place. And uh, Frank."

Calliegh looked confused, "Alexx I get, but Tripp?" Natalia nodded her agreement, "Yeah why did he know?"

Ryan glanced over to Walter, who wasn't surprised, "Frank is listed as my next of kin." Ryan paused to take in the confused faces, "I'm not on good terms with my family. They weren't very supportive of my career choice. My parents disowned me when I joined the academy. I'm only really close to my uncle but he is frequently out of the country and unreachable. I met Frank while I was still on patrol and when I transferred he was the only one who really talked to me. I couldn't keep my old partner as next of kin and Frank offered. They called him to get permission for the surgery."

Calliegh and Eric both looked very guilty, but Natalia was shocked, "You needed surgery?"

Ryan lowered his head, "Um, yeah, I had bone fragments from a rib embedded in my lungs."

Calliegh almost cried at his dejected tone, "Is that why you disappeared for a month? H said you were taking leave to deal with family issues. I assumed someone died or got a divorce or something. I had no idea you were in the hospital."

Ryan raised his head up and looked her in the eyes, "I didn't want you to know. You and Eric were both mad at me and at first, Alexx didn't want the stress that you being there would put on me, but then I just couldn't handle you knowing. I didn't want the pitying looks or everyone acting like I was made of glass. I didn't want you to have to pretend to be concerned."

Eric looked hurt at Ryan's words, but as he thought back to how they had treated Ryan in the past, he really couldn't blame the man for feeling that way. "I'm sorry we made you feel like that."

A stifling silence fell over the small group; Natalia finally broke it, "Could we see? I mean, Eric and Walter caught a glimpse but Calliegh and I have no idea what those bastards did to you, Please Ryan." Ryan looked reluctant and after a few moments of silent deliberation and shifting his gaze from Walter to Eric, he wordlessly removed his shirt.

Calliegh gasped as she looked over the maze of scars covering his body. Walter's eyes grew cold and hard in unbridled rage at what his friend had been forced to endure. Eric looked away, ashamed he had done nothing to stop what had happened. Natalia stood silently and crouched in front of where Ryan sat. Her hand reached out and her fingers briefly brushed a nasty looking scar before she lunged forward and hugged Ryan for all she was worth.

"How come you never told us?" Horatio turned to see Eric leaning on the door frame of his office. At the confused look on the older man's face, Eric elaborated, "About what happened to Ryan. Why did it take us years to find out he had been kidnapped by the Russians? How could you sit by and watch us treat like we did when you knew what really happened." Eric grew more agitated as he spoke, his words growing louder, "How could you let us think he betrayed this lab when all he was doing was saving the life of a child?"

Horatio stood and walked over to Eric, "It wasn't my story to tell. He didn't want anyone knowing and I was simply respecting his wishes. If it's any consolation, I had expected this to come out a long time ago. I'm glad he finally told you. May I ask what brought it on?"

Eric looked down, embarrassed at his outburst, "He was changing in the locker room, Walter and I saw his scars."

Horatio inwardly cringed as he remembered the state the young CSI had been in. "Yes, the Russians did a number on our young Mr. Wolfe."

Eric's head shot up, "Ryan."

Horatio was confused by the statement, "Pardon me?"

Eric's gaze grew firm and demanding; "His name is Ryan"

Horatio smiled in understanding, "So it is, so it is."

A/N- so I didn't like how the episode "Wolfe in sheep's clothing" ended but I really like the dynamic Ryan and Walter have so I made the big reveal come later in the series. I picture it happening after Jesse died but before the tornado thing. Anyways, hope you liked it and don't get mad if I portrayed anything about OCD wrong, I don't know much about it and thought what I wrote was too far from reality.


End file.
